Dec 7 2016

By Mike Deehan, WGBH

"There were some accounts that we knew weren't fully funded when the budget was passed, which is pretty routine, but then some programs like MassHealth have exceeded the cost expectations," McAnneny said. "So it's kind of a trifecta of things that have come together." The foundation, she said, sides with Baker that cuts now, not later, are the way to proceed.

Dec 6 2016

By Joshua Miller, The Boston Globe

Eileen McAnneny, president of the business-backed Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, said this fiscal year has been particularly challenging. She cited a budget that did not fully account for known costs, such as funding for lawyers for indigent defendants; higher-than-expected costs for the Medicaid program; and lower-than-expected revenue growth. “So it is not unexpected that the administration took action to actively manage this deficit,” McAnneny said. “It is unclear whether these latest actions will be adequate, given the many fiscal uncertainties that remain.”

Dec 6 2016

By Colin Young, State House News Service / 22WWLP

The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation on Monday presented the Joint Ways and Means Committee with an estimate that state tax collections will grow by only 2.65 percent in fiscal 2018. Tax revenues will increase by about $687 million, to $26.64 billion, according to the foundation’s estimate. Though the reasons behind the sluggish growth of the last nearly two years are “uncertain, what is clear is that there are no indicators suggesting state tax revenues will grow at a rate substantially higher than we’ve experienced over the last 11 months,” MTF President Eileen McAnneny said.

Dec 6 2016

By Michael Norton, State House News Service / The Lowell Sun

State tax revenues in the next budget cycle will grow by only 2.65 percent, according to the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, marking another year of sluggish collections and again dampening the environment for major spending increases. In fiscal 2018, which begins on July 1, 2017, tax revenues will increase by about $687 million, to $26.64 billion, according to the foundation's estimate, which is being submitted Monday to lawmakers and the Baker administration as they kick off the fiscal 2018 budget cycle.

Dec 6 2016

By Bruce Mohl, CommonWealth Magazine

The Taxpayers Foundation, a business-backed fiscal watchdog, said there are no economic indicators suggesting tax revenues will grow faster in the future than they have in the last 11 months. “The foundation advises extreme caution over the next 18 months and urges lawmakers to exercise great restraint in building the budget,” said Eileen McAnneny, president of the foundation. “There are both longstanding causes for concern, such as a shrinking workforce and insufficient reserves in our stabilization fund, and many new ones, such as the lack of clarity on many policy positions from President-elect Trump and ominous signs of a global economic slowdown.”

Dec 6 2016

By Christian Wade, The Lawrence Eagle Tribune

The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, a nonpartisan fiscal watchdog group, released a report on Monday predicting more modest tax revenue growth of 2.65 percent or $26.6 billion in fiscal 2018. "Massachusetts could be faced with a catastrophic situation -- stalled growth in tax revenues, declining federal funding, insufficient reserves to mitigate the budgetary impacts, and an economy that struggles to emerge from the next downturn due to high costs and even more challenging demographics," Eileen McAnneny, the foundation's president, told lawmakers.

Dec 6 2016

By Bob Salsberg, AP / The Herald News

“The foundation advises extreme caution over the next 18 months and urges lawmakers to exercise great restraint in building the budget,” said Eileen McAnneny, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, a nonpartisan fiscal watchdog.

Dec 6 2016

By Shira Schoenberg, MassLive

The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation predicted 2.65 percent growth, to $26.64 million -- slightly lower than Heffernan's predictions. Eileen McAnneny, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, cited concerns over a shrinking workforce and aging population as well as insufficient reserves in the state rainy day fund. She noted a lack of clarity on Trump's policies and signs of a global economic slowdown.

Oct 27 2016

By Matt Murphy, State House News Service / The Berkshire Eagle

"I think it's a little unusual. If there's been a downgrade to tax revenue there's usually accompanying 9c cuts, but I think some of it is the administration has been managing and reducing spending without 9cs, doing it informally in a sense," said Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation President Eileen McAnneny.

Oct 17 2016

By Joshua Miller, The Boston Globe

Eileen McAnneny, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, said Massachusetts’ reliance on federal government has grown over the past decade. In addition to providing money for health care and other key areas, she said, the federal government helps the state pay for its long-term investments, most notably in transportation. “These monies,” McAnneny emphasized, “are important to the state’s financial health.”